In the Rain
by Weird Not Boring
Summary: To this day, Lily Evans won’t admit why she did it. She claimed brief insanity or a lapse of judgement, but the next thing she knew, James Potter pulled her outside and she was watching him frolic in the rain, soaked to the bone. Epilogue added!
1. In the Rain

Disclaimer: I own nothing. No I don't. So you won't sue me. No you won't!

A/N: okay, inspired by the brief 5 minutes worth of rain we had today. a One-shot. (but I might do a little more if inspired!)

* * *

"Please, Lily? Dance in the rain with me!" Alice Dobbs exclaimed. The rain poured outside the window next to Alice's bed, which was currently being jumped on by said Alice.

Lily laughed at her friend's antics, "No! I need to patrol tonight, and we've still got tons of homework, and you could get sick!"

"Oh please Lily!" Alice's big blue eyes begged Lily's to say yes. Alice jumped down and grabbed Lily's arms, twirling her around. "Pretty please!"

"No!" Lily laughed, and stopped spinning. "You must be crazy! It's raining in torrents out there!"

"We did it last year! And the year before, and the year before that, and all the years we've been here!" Alice through her arms up to emphasize her point.

"I already said no, and nothing you're going to say will change that!" Lily said, "Why don't you go dance alone?"

Alice pouted. "It's not as much fun that way!"

"Then get Frank to go with you!" Lily suggested, sitting down on her bed and getting some papers ready for her patrolling.

"But we _always_ dance in the first rain together! It's tradition!"

"But I've got to patrol! And you've got that Charms homework that you've been putting off!" Lily stood up, ready to leave to meet James.

"Fine! Spoilsport!" Alice huffed as Lily left out the door.

"You know you love me!" Lily called back.

Lily laughed as she trotted happily down the stairs. She stopped when she came face-to-face with James Potter. "Hi Lily! Ready to patrol?" He asked happily. If there was one thing she knew about James Potter was that he was never tired. _Never_. He could've gotten no sleep the two previous nights, but still be perky and happy the next morning. It was bloody insane if you asked her . . .

"Ready as ever, Potter," Lily replied. She didn't actually hate him anymore. No. She had actually come to regard him as sort of a friend. So when she called him "Potter" it was only to keep appearances. She couldn't let _him_ know that she liked him now!

It wasn't until they were out of the common room and on one of the school's many staircases that James spoke, "What were you laughing about, before?"

She didn't know why she actually responded. The past nights she had just ignored everything James said and went about her merry way, but it seemed like, tonight, she should answer. "Alice wanted me to dance in the rain with her."

James, shocked that she had even answered, stood silent for a while, then rushed after her and asked, "Do you not like the rain?"

Lily laughed, "I love rain!"

James looked at her inquisitively. "I don't believe you." James looked inside a broom closet, checked to see if there were any people, then closed the door and continued walking.

Lily gasped. "I do! I've loved rain since I could walk!"

"Then prove it."

Lily laughed, "How?"

He ran to the door of the Great Hall, (which they had just entered) and threw it open, revealing the steady downpour of rain outside. "If you love rain so much then come run in it with me!"

Lily laughed, "You're insane! We'll get in trouble!"

"So?" James said with a glint in his eye. He ran back over to where Lily stood at the side and pulled her close to the door. "Come dance with me, Lily," James said softly, looking her in the eye.

Lily had never noticed how brilliantly hazel his eyes were, or how gorgeous his hair looked, even through it would never lie flat, or how his face was so devilishly handsome that she was surprised that it wasn't carved from stone. She found herself staring into his eyes, and a little part of her, a very very little part of her admitted that she loved this boy in front of her. And she knew it was that part, that blasted part, that made her do the crazy thing she was about to do. Because when James Potter asked her one last time if she would "pretty please" do it, she found that little part of her getting bigger and bigger and she found herself nodding.

To this day, she won't admit why she did it. She claimed brief insanity or a lapse of judgement, but the next thing she knew, James Potter pulled her outside and she was watching him frolic in the rain, soaked to the bone.

James laughed with glee as he twirled and skipped around like a little boy, completely forgetting all acts of maturity that he normally hid behind. He jumped and skipped and twirled, and when he noticed Lily standing all by herself, dragged her over with him and made her jump and skip and twirl as well.

Lily laughed as soon as she felt his hands grab her own and pull her with him. "You're insane!" she shouted over the pouring rain.

"You know you love this!" He replied, and spun her even faster. She broke off and twirled over by herself. He came skipping over to where she twirled.

The rain had begun to lighten up ever so slightly, so she didn't have to yell to be heard. "Maybe I don't. Maybe I hate this!"

James laughed. "You don't."

"But can you be sure?" She asked, stopping her twirling and looking him straight in the eye.

He paused, unsure of what to say, then spoke, "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

She took his double meaning and looked back at him solemnly. For a second, he thought she was going to kiss him, but she skipped off to near the edge of the lake. He skipped after her, laughing all the while.

Lily collapsed on the grass next to the lake and sighed happily. James fell down next to her. "Ow! That hurt!" he said.

Lily just laughed. "You know, I don't think I've done anything this crazy for a long time."

"I haven't either," James confessed.

"But what about-" but then Lily realized; there hadn't been any pranks this year. "Oh."

"You know we're completely soaked!" James said to change the subject.

Lily laughed. "No! You don't say?"

James laughed. An awkward silence fell like the rain around them. Both stared up at the rain falling onto their faces. The rain had gotten increasingly light until it was only slightly raining.

Lily looked over at him, caught his eye, then asked, "Do you love me?"

James didn't know what to say. Of course he loved her! He had loved her for what felt like forever! He loved the way her hair was now completely soaked, he loved the way she would always be the first person to raise her hand in charms and potions, he loved how her eyes lit up when she was happy, or how her nose was filled with tiny little freckles. He loved everything about her and wanted to tell her – and yet, the only thing that come out was, "Yes."

She looked him hard in the eye (which was kinda hard with the rain pouring down!), and said, "Okay."And she kissed him.

And even though he was freezing cold and soaked to the bone, and at that very moment Professor McGonagall had come out to reprimand them, and all of Gryffindor tower were watching from the windows above, James would still swear (even under veritaserum) that, that was the best moment of his life. Kissing Lily Evans in the rain.


	2. Epilogue

_**A/N: Hey all! I know it's been awhile, but I had to make sure this was perfectly perfect before posting it. It's also due to the fact that I have been very very very busy. But no one likes excuses.**_

**_I debated on whether or not to post this as another chapter, or as a new story, but I decided to post it as a new chapter. Like an epilogue. So that's what it's called. "The Epilogue"._**

_1 year later_

"ALICE!" Alice Longbottom was having a very stressed day. After forgiving Lily for not running in the rain with her last year, she had gone and eloped with her boyfriend of two years - Frank Longbottom - causing hers and Lily's friendship to fall even closer apart, until, for a while, they hadn't even talked regularly. So when Lily had asked her to be her bridesmaid, Alice couldn't have been more excited for her friend, saying "Yes!" almost immediately.

Alice regretted that now.

"HELP!" So as Lily began screaming again, Alice ran though the crowded pre-wedding hustle and bustle before coming onto the tent that they were using as the bride's room.

"She just _had_ to want an outside wedding in the middle of November, didn't she . . ." Alice grumbled softly to herself before opening the tent-flap so she could help her best friend with whatever calamity was happening to her now.

"Alice! Thank Merlin! I can't get my dress up!"

Alice laughed a little before helping Lily pull the rest of her dress up, snapping some of the buttons back into place in the process.

"How's the weather?" Lily asked frantically.

A bride asking that question about 10 minutes 'till her wedding would've shocked most people, but fortunately for us, Alice knew what Lily was talking about, and why she was worried. "It's still cloudy, but there's been no sighting of rain," Alice replied, snapping more of the buttons into place.

You see, the problem with outdoor weddings in the middle of November, is that there is a very high chance of rain, and unfortunately for our bride, that was what the weather forecaster had predicted for this day.

"Oh good," Lily said, breathing a sigh of relief. Her day had been one hectic nightmare so far, and Lily didn't know if she could handle anything else. She had been woken up at 2 in the morning by a very drunk Sirius saying that she should have married him instead- then she was woken up at 4:27 by a very frantic September Polk, (her other best friend) informing her that it was going to rain today, causing her to jump out of bed and rush down to September's house - only to find her best friend asleep already. Lily had then apparated back to her house and fell asleep, but in a rush to get some beauty sleep so she wouldn't look absolutely atrocious had forgotten to set her alarm and had been awoken 30 minutes ago by a very stressed out Alice telling her that she should have been there an hour ago. So, needless to say, Lily was feeling almost as stressed out as James was feeling anxious.

James, on the opposite side of the church, was pacing frantically. He, like Lily, hadn't slept well either. He had been tossing and turning all night - and when he did manage slumber, it was filled with nightmares of Lily leaving him at the altar, Lily laughing at him as she walked down the aisle, Lily saying that she would never marry him and that this had all been a joke - And it had taken a very tired Remus Lupin at 5:15 in the morning to convince him that No, it hadn't all been a joke, No, Lily's not going to leave you, and yes, you will be marrying the love of your life tomorrow and we'll all be there. Still, James paced frantically.

"James? You can head out now," Dumbledore said, walking over to the abandoned area James had chosen as his place of frantic pacing. Lily and James had both insisted Dumbledore preform the ceremony. And, smiling, he had agreed. (A/N: I have no idea how marriages happen, so, if anything's wrong, just pretend that this is how they do it in the Wizarding World . . .)

James, his hands sweating nervously at his sides, made his way over to the altar, down the aisle, and past all the semi-crowded rows of chairs. He looked out into the crowd, seeing many different people, but not being able to register anyone's face.

Music started up in the background, James didn't know where it came from and wasn't calm enough at the time to care, and as his little niece and nephew led the walking procession down the aisle, James began to wish that he had just stayed home instead. It would've been much better for his nerves.

They had set up the spot they had picked so that the procession had to turn a corner before the whole crowd could see them - that way James wouldn't see Lily until the whole procession had made it down the aisle - Lily was very happy they did that right now.

She felt like she was breathing so heavily she would hyperventilate. She had been a very calm bride until now, but, as she realized that this was it, she was tying the knot forever, (as in the Wizarding world, no one divorced. It was unheard of) she started getting incredibly nervous - and the little doubts floating into her head weren't helping very much. She smiled nervously at her dad, and, before she knew it, she was starting to walk down the short stretch right before she would be in everyone's eyesight. .

James stood, extremely nervously, at the altar, waiting for Lily to walk down the aisle. He waited while Sirius, as Best Man, walked Alice, as Maid of Honor, down. Waited while the two best men, (Remus and Peter) and the two bridesmaids, (September and James's14 year old cousin, Aiwa) headed towards him, smiling radiantly, and waited, lastly, in the silence before she turned the corner.

As Lily walked into his gaze and gave him a small smile, James lit up in a gigantic grin. She was there, this was happening, and in a few minutes, they would be married. James had never felt so lucky in his whole entire life.

Lily, more nervous then she had ever been before, began the trek down the aisle. It had seemed much shorter before, Lily thought vaguely, walking past what seemed like the hundredth step. As she finally made it down the long path, she smiled again at James, and when he smiled back, Lily felt all her nerves go away, because she was in love, and he would soon be hers, and there wasn't a doubt in her head that it should be any other way.

James didn't know when it had happened, but somewhere in between the "Who presents this woman?" and the "Do you take . . .", James felt a drop on his shoulder. He then felt one on his forehead, and then one on his neck. James, taking his eyes off of Lily, looked around, and saw that everyone else felt them too, and then, before he knew it, it began to rain.

It didn't just rain softly, it rained hard, in torrents, causing the ground to be muddy almost instantly and some of the people in the seats to scream. It rained almost as hard as it does in those corny romance novels, where the Hero and Heroine would finally be united as thunder clapped in the background. But, luckily for the nearest tall metal thing, most likely a lamp-post, there was no thunder, only torrential rain. Which, needless to say, was way better. More romantic.

During this time, Lily looked around her, at what had become of her perfect wedding, and began laughing. James looked at her strangely, but it wasn't long before he began giggling too. And, right there, in front of all their wedding guests, friends, family, and important Ministry employees, (as James was very high up in the ministry, so everyone _had_ to come, and besides, they would say, with so many people eloping, it's been a long time since I've seen an actual wedding;) Lily and James stood in the rain, laughing at nothing at all - except for the fact that it was raining.

And then, James, in his bliss, forgot about everyone and everything except Lily, his bride-to be, and began twirling her around, and doing a crazy sort of dance that made Sirius from where he was standing, grin proudly, and Remus, from where he was next to Sirius, roll his eyes, and facepalm.

And when Lily joined in, it was alright, because, after all the planning that went into this very wet wedding, she deserved a break; and then when Dumbledore cleared his throat and the couple looked on guiltily, that was alright too, because it was their wedding, and they deserved to be happy.

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling, and said, "Do you, James Potter, take Lily Evans to be you lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," James replied right away. Everyone, (who could still hear them, and had stayed to watch even though it was raining) laughed.

"Do you, Lily Evans, take James Potter to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

And when Lily, hair messed from the rain, make-up running, and dress soaking wet, said the next two words, James felt like the luckiest man on Earth. "I do," she said, smiling up at him.

And even with the smaller crowd, the rain pouring down, and everyone now soaking wet, Dumbledore said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. James, you may now kiss the bride."

And in the moments where James leaned his head down, time seemed to stand still, and memories flooded into James' mind. He remembered just a year ago how amazing it was when they shared their first kiss, then how amazing all the kisses afterward were.

And then as his lips came down upon Lily's, his last comprehendible thought was only that it should rain more often. Because even though kissing Lily Evans in the rain was incredible, kissing Lily Potter was even better. And James couldn't wait to do it again.

**_A/N: awww! I'm such a hopeless romantic . . . sniffle_**

**_One last note: I'm currently involved, with five other authors, in a round Robin story. The story is entitled "A Fork In An Eye" and our author name is Round Robin Ducklings. From what I've read so far, it's completely brilliant, so I suggest you all go over and check it out!_**


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